T23 in my opinion is about the best.

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skou · #1 Post by **skou** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 11:31 pm

Guys, I've been using a T23 for most of my "away from home" stuff, and a lot of my home stuff, too. I've got a quad-core desktop, running W7, but the T23 with it's ease of repair, is just about as good as I'm going to want.

Am I missing anything? Is there really any serious reason to consider getting something newer? Are the newer ones any easier to work on? (I've been doing my own IT work on MY stuff, and am not about to spend any money on that.)

I've had a T30, and sold it. Sold it here, if I'm not mistaken. (Kept the battery, since it fits a T2* and has MUCH more life.)

Yes, it is missing a USB2 port. Yes, I can only run 1 GB of memory, which means that W7 is a struggle. Yes, it doesn't have "killer" graphics, but I've never gamed on ANY computer, with the exception of MS Flight sim. Yes, it has inductors that have fallen off, but that just gets cheap ones on Ebay.

The positives, it is WELL BUILT! It is EASY to work on. It has 3 different screw sizes. (I've pulled other lappies apart, and swore a blue streak.) I can buy the stuff to make a "14 inch DVD player," on Ebay for about $75 dollars, and you get a laptop included for free.

So, am I barking up the wrong tree?

steve

Unknown_K · #2 Post by **Unknown_K** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 2:15 am

The T23 is one of my top favorites, I have a couple here. For basic office and browsing it works fine. Beats the other T2x models because it uses cheaper PC133 RAM and has faster HD speeds because of the ATA spec. If you use XP then the T23 with 1GB RAM rocks.

The T30 seems like a nice machine if you don't have video issues.

#3 Post by **rkawakami** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 3:18 am

No argument from me

. I'm using several of them; 1GB of memory running XP, SXGA+ screens and with built-in wireless, at home and work. And a couple of more of them on the workbench awaiting CCFL replacements. They are great for general office tasks, browsing, email and watching DVDs. My system of choice when it comes to using CPU intensive applications is the X60. When attached to the Ultrabase, it does everything I need it to do. Can't say if it's as easy to work on as the T23 since I have yet to open up one of the X60 systems.

pianowizard · #4 Post by **pianowizard** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 11:08 am

skou wrote:Is there really any serious reason to consider getting something newer?

If this T23 is still capable of doing what you need, there is no reason to upgrade. My Panasonic Toughbook CF-Y4, despite having only 512MB of RAM, is perfectly adequate for what I do on this machine, and so I am not adding more RAM.

jronald · #5 Post by **jronald** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 11:37 am

I went from the T22 to the T23, and then to the T30. I love everything about the 30's and have several around the house. Both my son and I use them, and the X31's exclusively. My wife has a R51 that she swears by (I just swear at it).....anyway the form factors of the T2/T3 series is almost perfect for "laptop" usage. I find the larger screen not only not needed, but often time just in the way. The X series does most of the traveling, with the aux battery attached to the back, it will easily go all day.
I also have some A31p's floating around.

Ron

#6 Post by **rkawakami** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 10:28 pm

jronald wrote:I also have some A31p's floating around.

Sorry to say that an A31p will not float on anything with the viscosity of water, oil or even peanut butter

.

skou · #7 Post by **skou** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 10:43 pm

Ron, like I said earlier, I had a T30. For some reason, it didn't appeal to me. The tapered base, (the back is thicker than the front) the fact that it has a P4 blowtorch in there, and (my opinion) it just felt clunky.

When I started playing with Thinkpads, my brother had a T20. He said that it was a great lappy, so I got parts from ebay, and dipped my toe in the water. (Never met a machine I couldn't fix.) I was getting T20, 21,and 22 parts, and selling complete units to friends. I got a couple 23 carcasses, but they wouldn't post. Lights would blink and stuff, but no post.

Then I read a thread here, (THANKS, Ray!) and found out the cause. After I fixed my 2 mobos, the rest was history. I was hunting ebay for "broken" t23s, and soldering on inductors.

steve

jronald · #8 Post by **jronald** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 10:08 am

Ray you are twisted!

The P4 can run very hot.
A few tips I have done:
No more than a 2.0 gig CPU
At least 1 gig of memory
Smallish HDDs (under 100 gig)
Notebook Hardware Control!!!!

You can easily use one on bare legs with no issues. If you need to lean on them, you have the power in reserve.

Ron

Temetka · #9 Post by **Temetka** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 4:50 pm

I owned a T23 years ago. The high end model with the 1.13GHz CPU, 1GB of RAM, and the SXGA+ LCD. Man, that had to be one of my all time favorite computers. I have owned others since then, and although I have a few other machines I rarely give "favorite" status to, that was easily one of them. My T23 carried my 3/4 of the way through college and my BS degree. Due to its built in serial port, it helped me configure many Cisco routers and switches. It was simply, an elegant machine. Sure the Savage IX GPU was not the best GPU in the world, but it played to few old school games I care about, ran Linux just fine and handled DVD and AVI files like a champ.

If I wasn't currently using a T43 which I am in love with (14 display, fast Pentium M, 2GB RAM and ATI Graphics) then I would be rolling with either a T23 or an X31.

#10 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Fri Mar 11, 2011 5:12 pm

I have several T23s, my favorite one (like Temetka's) is a T23 with 1.13GHz, built-in wifi, SXGA+ and a T30 battery.
Whenever I'm on the road I have it with me.
And its serial port is essential for when I am messing with Supervisor passwords.
Currently I am converting an X31 to receive the IPS LCD from an X41T.
When done, that X31 is going to be my new travel companion (sorry T23, you're a bit overweight and bulky compared to the X31...)

ThinkRob · #11 Post by **ThinkRob** » Sat Mar 12, 2011 3:16 pm

Honestly, if I could find a T23 with an SXGA+ display and the option to add wireless (or with it built-in), I'd replace my T60 with it.

Yeah, I'm a sucker for vintage machines.

ajkula66 · #12 Post by **ajkula66** » Sun Mar 13, 2011 1:20 am

T23 is still one of my favourite ThinkPads, would probably get a bronze medal (after A31p and T43/p)...

Perfect - or pretty darn close to it - form factor for a travel machine, yet powerful enough to be used as a desktop as long as you're running XP and not gaming or watching streaming videos...very impressive, a decade or so later...

ijoju · #13 Post by **ijoju** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 8:33 pm

Temetka wrote:I owned a T23 years ago. The high end model with the 1.13GHz CPU, 1GB of RAM, and the SXGA+ LCD. Man, that had to be one of my all time favorite computers. I have owned others since then, and although I have a few other machines I rarely give "favorite" status to, that was easily one of them. My T23 carried my 3/4 of the way through college and my BS degree. Due to its built in serial port, it helped me configure many Cisco routers and switches. It was simply, an elegant machine. Sure the Savage IX GPU was not the best GPU in the world, but it played to few old school games I care about, ran Linux just fine and handled DVD and AVI files like a champ.

If I wasn't currently using a T43 which I am in love with (14 display, fast Pentium M, 2GB RAM and ATI Graphics) then I would be rolling with either a T23 or an X31.

Couldn't help noticing your Linux comment. I'm running Linux Mint 10 on my T23 right now and was wondering if you could shed some light on a problem I'm having. I can't get Wine to work on it. Just running the Notepad that came with it will cause it to crash and restart my system. I tried it with Ubuntu 10.10 as well and had the same problem. I'm thinking it might be hardware because it runs fine on my sister's old laptop.

ThinkRob · #14 Post by **ThinkRob** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 8:56 am

ijoju wrote: Couldn't help noticing your Linux comment. I'm running Linux Mint 10 on my T23 right now and was wondering if you could shed some light on a problem I'm having. I can't get Wine to work on it. Just running the Notepad that came with it will cause it to crash and restart my system. I tried it with Ubuntu 10.10 as well and had the same problem. I'm thinking it might be hardware because it runs fine on my sister's old laptop.

My theory would be bad RAM or a planar issue. I trust you've already run memtest86+?

ijoju · #15 Post by **ijoju** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 11:39 am

ThinkRob wrote:
My theory would be bad RAM or a planar issue. I trust you've already run memtest86+?

No, I didn't think to because everything else works fine on it.

rumbero · #16 Post by **rumbero** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 12:14 pm

@ijoju: Please kindly check out the Wine support resources at http://www.winehq.org/help for more suitable guidance, keeping in mind to provide some actual information to the fine people trying to lend you a hand. This is no Thinkpad specific issue at all.

fefrie · #17 Post by **fefrie** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 12:55 pm

I recently have moved onto a t42. It's better lighter, faster, more compact, etc, etc, but I miss the t23 keyboard and mouse buttons. The t23 buttons were a nice soft touch feel, the t42 feels like I have to slam each button especially the left click button in comparison to the t23.

ijoju · #18 Post by **ijoju** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 6:32 pm

I've never used another Thinkpad except for mine until recently. In comparison my trackpoint required a lot more force to use. Is it alright to use some WD-40 on it?

smile100 · #19 Post by **smile100** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 9:08 pm

I own a T24 and like it.

#20 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 4:54 am

smile100 wrote:I own a T24 and like it.

Highly unlikely!

ThinkRob · #21 Post by **ThinkRob** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 10:18 am

RealBlackStuff wrote: Highly unlikely!

Now, now... he could be referring to the Russian tank...

ZAGNUT · #22 Post by **ZAGNUT** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 12:55 pm

while i like all the old T series up to the T43 i think the ultimate thinkpad is the X41 with a sata ssd. ultra portable and so much tougher than any of the others. easier to tear down than the T20s and T30s and tons easier than the T43. at home i usually sit at a T30 or T43 but at work it's the X41 and despite the smaller screen i don't really notice any difference other than the dead quiet of the X41.

T23 in my opinion is about the best.

T23 in my opinion is about the best.

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